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[AFREF-11] Re: Workshop on AFREF, CODI Meeting
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AFREF Mail 27 Jun 16:55:40 PDT 2001 Message Number 11
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Author: Ruth E. Neilan, IGS Central Bureau
June 28, 2001
United Nations
Economic Commission For Africa
Development Information Services Division
Mr. Orlando Nino-Fluck
Senior Cartographic Officer
P. O. Box 3001,
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
Tel: (251-1) 517200/ 511408 (Direct)
Fax (251-1) 514416/ 510512 (Direct)
Subject: AFREF Interest, CODI Meeting September 2001
Dear Mr. Nino-Fluck,
I thank you very much for your message affirming the intent of the
Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) to participate and support AFREF,
the initiative to realize a continental geodetic reference system for
Africa. The description and background on the Committee on
Development Information (CODI) is very informative and I appreciate
much more the role that CODI assumes for the development of Africa.
It is also notable that that ECA understands the great importance of
establishing a common reference frame for Africa as the basis for
development. Unfortunately, the CODI meeting and proposed LIS/AFREF
workshop planned for this coming August/September conflicts with the
International Association of Geodesy (IAG) Scientific Assembly in
Budapest, also September 2-7 see:
<http://www.sztaki.hu/conferences/iag2001/>
It is at the IAG venue in Budapest that Claude Boucher and I hope to
highlight the need for the international community to join with the
emerging AFREF regional initiatives such as NAREF (reported by Mr.
Benhamouda Fethi, Algeria) and SAREF (Mr. Richard Wonnacott, South
Africa). The Budapest meeting will draw IAG national representatives
from throughout the world, and I hope to propose the subject of AFREF
initiatives as an agenda item for the IAG Executive Board
consideration. The IAG President, Prof. Fernando Sanso, Italy, has
already expressed his interest for an AFREF and understands the
supporting role of the various IAG services (IGS, IERS, BGI, IGeS,
etc.). Over the last months, a number of people from various
organizations have expressed great interest as well.
On behalf of IAG and IGS, and despite the conflicting meeting
schedules, we would very much like to be involved with or help plan a
session for a CODI related workshop that would bring together the
geodetic and information experts so that the regional projects can
interact, common goals and objectives agreed to, methodologies
devised and potential resources identified. It may not be possible
to arrange such an extensive workshop until the next meeting of CODI,
but the CODI this August seems an excellent opportunity to at least
attempt to bring some key people together.
The emphasis that you place on participation in the workshops and
meetings is important and key to the success of such an initiative.
I should hope that through the initiatives for a continental
reference system for Africa that we can attract partnerships from
other agencies and organizations that do result in support, resources
and sustainable state-of-the-art geodetic technology for Africa. Your
request for assistance for the national mapping agency
representatives to attend the CODI meeting is acknowledged, although
there is little time. Regardless, please send me what ever
information you have on the travel needs, costs, logistics, etc., and
I will try to see if there is anything possible from interested
organizations. As you may know, the IGS Central Bureau does not have
funds for such allocations (regretfully). I am very dedicated to this
project, however my office is currently facing budget difficulties
which hinders my ability to devote the necessary time to this
activity (at least in the very near term).
You did mention in your letter that the terms of reference for CODI
and the annotated draft agenda was attached, for some reason, they
were not. Can you please send again? If you have the text of the
recommendation and resolution from the last CODI-GEO meeting in
June-July 1999, that would be useful to cite.
In terms of the technical details of the workshop, I will contact Dr.
Konecny and see what may be accomplished.
With kind regards,
Ruth Neilan
Director, International GPS Service Central Bureau
Cc:
Dr. C. Boucher, IAG/IGS/ITRF
Prof. G. Konecny, GTZ
Prof. Ch. Reigber, IGS
Prof. F. Sanso, IAG
Prof. CC Tscherning, IAG
Text Version of the Letter from ECA for reference
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UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION
Date: 5 June 2001
Ref: DISD/Let/Geoinfo/01/249
Mr. Claude Boucher
Chair, IAG Commission X, Global and Regional Networks
Head, International Terrestrial Reference Frame, IERS
IERS Representative to IGS Governing Board
Fax: +33(0)1-64153107
Ms. Ruth E. Neilan
Director, IGS Central Bureau
Member, Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Data Services
Fax: 1-818-393-6686
Dear Mr. Boucher,
Dear Ms. Neilan,
Subject: AFREF Interest
I have the pleasure to refer to your circular letter of 14
February 2001, inviting us to participate in the AFREF project. This
is to accept your invitation and inform you our related ongoing
activities.
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has always accorded
a great importance to the establishment of a common reference frame
for Africa. ECA has been implementing activities in geographic
information acquisition and management for more than four decades in
its efforts to assist African countries to improve the management of
natural resources and the environment, as part of the Commission's
overall mandates aimed at the socio-economic development of the
region.
In particular, one important activity has been the
organization and servicing of the United Nations Regional
Cartographic Conferences for Africa (UNCRC-Africa), now subsumed by
the geoinformation sub-Committee of the Committee on Development
Information (CODI-Geo), one of the new technical committees
established in 1997 when reviewing the intergovernmental machinery of
the Commission.
The long standing issue of a unified geodetic reference frame
for Africa has been raised practically at every United Nations
Regional Cartographic Conference for Africa, resulting in a number of
initiatives and studies conducted by many relevant organizations and
in particular by the African Association of Geodesy, which carried
out the ADOS project under the umbrella of the International
Association of Geodesy. The first meeting of CODI-Geo, which
replaced the 10th UNRCC-Africa, held in June-July 1999 in Addis
Ababa, noted once more "the absence of a homogenous horizontal and
vertical geodetic datum for Africa" and a general recommendation was
made in one of the resolutions. [text or paraphrase of the
resolution will be useful]
I would like to underscore the particular and important
nature of CODI with a dual function that makes it different from
other regional forums in the continent. On the one hand, it is a
legislative body of the Commission, giving priority to strategic and
policy issues. It is an intergovernmental meeting where delegates
speak on behalf on the member States and adopt resolutions that are
subsequently endorsed by the African Conferences of Ministers
responsible for Economic and Social Development, and then by ECOSOC
[in full]. On the other hand, it is also a discussion forum, open to
observers, that promotes the exchange of ideas and information on
experiences, best practices, new developments and trends in
technologies and methodologies in the various areas of
geo-information, such as surveying, mapping, remote sensing and
geographic and land information systems. It may identify regional
and sub-regional projects and review existing ones. A copy of the
Terms of Reference of CODI is attached for your information.
The second meeting of CODI has been scheduled from 4 to 7
September 2001 at the headquarters of ECA in Addis Ababa. A copy of
the draft-annotated agenda is attached. I would like to draw your
attention to agenda item 6.6.1 (a) that foresees the organization of
a workshop on LIS, supported by GTZ, with a main component devoted to
AFREF. This item was considered important by the Standing Preparatory
Working Group of CODI-Geo that met in November 2000 to look at its
theme, agenda and format.
You will agree that the CODI meeting, which gathers the heads
of National Mapping Agencies together with a variety of
geoinformation specialists, constitute the best place and offers the
best opportunity to develop the rationale and scheme indicated in
your statement. The outcome of the Workshop on LIS (and AFREF) will
be submitted to the plenary of CODI for discussion . Member States
are expected to support the AFREF project and to contribute to its
implementation, once a formal decision is made towards this end.
One problem we envisage that may affect the outcome of the
workshop relates to the degree of participation. The Workshop will
take place during the preceding week of CODI, and delegates and
observers, particularly from Africa, may not be in a position to fund
their sojourn for those days. It is well known that African
participants find it difficult to attend meetings where their
governments/institutions must bear the cost of participation. CODI
being an inter-governmental meeting where delegates represent member
States, it is not possible for ECA to pay totally or partially travel
or living expenses.
In line with the intentions expressed in your communication,
and in order to facilitate a successful workshop, I wish to request
your assistance to identify resources to fund the cost of
participation to the workshop for key officials from some African
countries. The selection of these participants would either proposed
or approved by you.
Concerning technical details of this workshop, it will be
useful if you could liase with Dr. Gottfried Konecny, who is
coordinating it. I am forwarding a copy of this letter to him. His
contact details are as follows:
Prof. Dr. Gottfried Konecny
U. of Hannover
Tel: 49 511 762 2481
Fax: 49 511 762 2483
konecny @ ipi.uni-hannover.de
gko @ ipi.uni-hannover.de
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Orlando Nino-Fluck
Senior Cartographic Officer
P. O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Tel: (251-1) 517200/511408
(Direct); Fax (251-1) 514416/510512 (Direct)
>Dear Ms. Neilan, Dear Mr. Boucher
>
>I do not know if you received a fax I sent to you some days ago. Please find a
>copy of it attached.
>
>I would be grateful for your response at your earliest convenience
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Orlando Nino-Fluck
>Senior Cartographic Officer
>Development Information Services Division.
> Tel: 251-1-510275
>Fax: 251-1-510512
>onino @ uneca.org
>
>(See attached file: letter Boucher & Neilan.doc)
>
>Content-type: application/msword;
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>Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="letter Boucher & Neilan.doc"
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>(WDBN/MSWD) (00016FC6)
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Ruth E. Neilan Telephone: (818)-354-8330
Director, IGS Central Bureau FAX: (818)-393-6686
Jet Propulsion Laboratory E-mail (IGS): igscb @ igscb.jpl.nasa.gov
MS 238-540 E-mail: ruth.neilan @ jpl.nasa.gov
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena, CA 91109
IGS Secretary: Mary Ann Hall Tel: 818-354-2077,
E-mail: MaryAnn.C.Hall @ jpl.nasa.gov
IGS Information System: http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/
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